More than a dozen of the cereus blossoms popped open overnight. As you can see, there will be many more to come. We seldom see so many opening on a single night. This was taken very early this morning. By 10 AM, these beautiful flowers had all closed and were drooping having done their one-night opening.
On our recent vacation, we were in San Diego’s Balboa Park. At one point, we passed the reflection pond where koi and water lilies abound. I got this shot of a water lily as we strolled past the pond.
That’s the sound of the ridiculous 10-day California waiting-period clock when you purchase a firearm. Background checks are practically instantaneous these days and the database for determining the suitability of a gun purchaser is virtually available twenty-four/seven.
Knowing that it takes far less than ten days to get this information can only mean that the ultra-liberal California nanny-state legislature is targeting the legitimate firearms enthusiast with a punitive delay harassment. I’m sure the underground firearms trade in the state have no such rules. Who is actually getting punished? Law-abiding gun purchasers and dealers! What a bunch of crap!
OK – there now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’m pleased to report that there are now less than the original 864,000 waiting period ticks left until I take possession of my newly-purchased (but yet to be acquired) Glock 26 9mm subcompact pistol. Ever since Damsel got her pocket-sized shooter, I’ve had a hankering for a little pistol. Last week, we took one of these for a test drive and liked it, so today we made the deal and started the wait. Click on the thumbnail above for a larger view of this neat little gun.
During our visit to San Diego, I took this panoramic view of the USS Midway docked at Navy Pier. The Midway is now permanently moored as a floating museum. Continue reading too see the moving panorama.
As promised, I am posting this shot of the bromeliad in bloom. Pink and blue pods make this flower look like a candy confection. Don’t get too close, though, you might get stuck by the spiny petals.
What a wonderful vacation week this has been! Just to prolong it a bit, we returned from San Diego to the Los Angeles area via Historic Route 101 along the Southern California coastline.
Every couple of years, our Bromeliad on the front porch will produce one of these brilliant pink flowers. Eventually, there will also be purple pods embedded in the flower, which adds more color. These come and go quickly, but not as fast as the cactus blossoms. There is a second bloom coming up in another part of the plant, so we will have two this summer. Damsel took this picture a couple of days ago.
A couple of years ago, I took this 3D picture of a previous bloom from the same plant (you need red/blue or red/cyan 3D glasses to view).
